Is there something else that you were supposed to be doing right now? Maybe your weekly assignment or your laundry which is pending for a week now.
But here you are reading this article and procrastinating your way out.
Alright, now that you have come so far, stay with me and we’ll find 5 practical solutions to get you out of this hodgepodge.
The Root Cause Of Procrastination.
Wait. What? The root cause?
‘You thought I will deal with Pomodoro, eating the elephant one piece at a time, organizing your workspace.
Forget them or the like.
Techniques will only help you as long as you are aware of the root cause of procrastination.
Let’s get straight into that.
So in response to that resistance, what do you do?
You, like everyone else, open up your social media thinking that the pain will go away but believe me that’s the only thing you should avoid when you are stuck in a situation like this.
What should you do at such difficult moments when you need to get things done before the approaching deadline. In simple two simple sentences, and this is what I try to do:
- Do 3 pushups.
- Take a cold shower.
- (Bonus) Anything that awakens your senses.
Now, I know you might be thinking about how on earth will this solve my problem.
I have got you covered with science and stats. Wait.
1) Catching Yourself.
It is to become conscious of what’s going on inside your brain at moments when you face trouble getting started or when you are getting distracted.
This concept was given by a Psychiatrist named Judson Brewer. According to him, you can use the concept of mindfulness to stop cravings that lead to bad habits.
Here is another solid proof.
In an experiment designed to abstain people from smoking cigarettes, he described that people were instructed to simply be curious about their smoking cravings when they appeared. This helped them to analyze and understand their cravings. The participants did this mindful smoking and as a result, they realized that the cigarette smells like stinky cheese, and tastes like chemicals. Thus, they automatically got disgusted by their habit.
The Take-Away Point Here
- You must give conscious thought to the reasons for your procrastination.
- As a result, you’ll find those reasons so paper-thin that they will blow away with the wind.
FAQ. Does this work every time?
Unfortunately, this method does not work all the time, and therefore step 2 comes to play.
2) Grow a new habit on top of an old one.
Now there are two ways of developing an effective habit.
- Try changing your environment that will result in the development of a new habit.
But do not try to do the opposite of the above which is…
Changing your habits without changing the environment. (Read that again). Why? Read Atomic Habits by James Clear for the answer. He has written robustly on this.
- The second is to pair the new habit with an existing habit.
BJ Fogg, an expert on human behavior, has best explained this…
Suppose you want to do 100 chin-ups a day. This habit can be grown by doing 2 chin-ups every time you enter the kitchen or your bathroom. What we did here is the pairing of a new habit .i.e. doing chin-ups with an old habit or a regular task of going to the kitchen or bathroom. When performed consistently, you’ll notice that you are now able to do more chin-ups in a day and this will ultimately become your habit.
The Take-Away Point Here?
The idea of doing a small amount of a new task with an existing habit will increase the likelihood of you performing the new task(your new habit to be developed ).
3) Use Exercise for a mini cognitive enhancement effect
Doing a small set of exercises gives a small boost in willpower when done while you feel procrastinating.
Moreover, several studies have shown that exercise increases the Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor which stimulates the production of new neurons. It is the BDNF that is responsible for learning, memory, and higher thinking.
A couple of pushups increases blood flow thereby getting more energy and oxygen to the brain, increasing its performance and better performance means an overall increase in willpower.
The Take-Away Point?
You can also do pushups to avoid distraction because the desire to get distracted and stop working will be less than the desire to do pushups.
Thus, it helps to avoid getting distracted during work.
4) Take a break and let your subconscious do the work
The above 3 methods were relevant to get out of the stagnation and work.
Now, what if the task in hand requires creativity.
This is where the shower comes into the act. Thousands of people have reported that they saw a boost in their creative imagination while taking a shower.
The key here is not to wash ourselves every time but to be in an isolated environment without straining our minds and let our subconscious brain saunter.
“The chief principle here is to be in an environment away from distractions where we can let our subconscious mind wander.
Thus, sitting on a park bench without any disturbance or taking a stroll down the lane would do have the same effect.”
5) Use the flow state cycle
What is it?
It is your optimum state of consciousness where you are absorbed in the task at hand and all aspects of performance, mental and physical, go through the roof ,is called the flow state as described by Steven Kotler, author of The Rise Of Superman.
Need an example?
The flow state is the state of you when you are in an exam hall writing continuously for 3 hours at 2x your normal writing speed and you don’t even notice where did all the time go.
BONUS: How To Enter The Flow State?
You can do so in 4 stages:
1) Working through a phase of struggle where you are focused and working hard at a challenging task.
2) Release Phase: Here you take your mind off the problem.
Caution: DON’T watch television or browse through social media as it will destroy your attention span completely.
3) Being in the state of flow. This is where you will gain focus on the task at hand.
How? Your brain releases performance-enhancing chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, etc. and you’ll start performing effectively.
4) Recovery Phase: The chemicals that enhance performance are feel-good chemicals and once those chemicals are used up, you’ll start feeling dull and low.
That is it for practical theory.
Bonus 2: A Needed Tip
This is a practical article and not theoretical. To get the results, apply them and act upon them.
The more you apply, the better.
What I would do if I were you? I would simply print this out and try to revise it as frequently as possible. This will strengthen my brain neurons paths and will be my alter ego(other me).
I would like to know what Mr. James Clear, Darius Foroux and Jari Roomer has to say about it.
About The Author
Hello readers! I am Moiz, the co-founder and writer at Nobles.
I love seeking knowledge; I believe that reading books can help us engage in life-long learning. Hope you enjoyed reading the article.
My Prime hobbies are Reading, Writing and Introspecting while Walking.
Let us connect on LinkedIn.
